Boss Gida Mustapha Biography And Buzz Facts About The New SGF

Following the dismissal of the Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation Babachir Lawal for abuse of office, the President has announced Boss Gida Mustapha as the new SGF. Here are a few facts about him.

Boss Gida Mustapha Bio

Boss Gida Mustapha was born in Adamawa. He attended Hong Secondary School, in Hong Adamawa and North East College of Arts and Sciences Maiduguri Borno state, crowning it with WASC and HSC in 1976.

He earned his Bachelor of Law (LL.B) from the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria in 1979 and was called to bar in 1980.

Mustapha did the compulsory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) – Directorate of Legal Services at the Army Headquarters and was in charge of the review of Court Marshall Proceedings from 1980 to 1981.

After his NYSC, Boss joined Sotesa Nigeria Limited, an Italian consultancy firm, as an Executive Director in charge of Administration, leaving in 1983 to join the law firm Messrs Onagoruwa & Co in Lagos.

He established his own practice and served as Principal Counsel in the firm Messrs Mustapha & Associates.

After graduating from law school in 1980, Mustapha decided to venture into politics. This journey made him become a member of The Federal Republic of Nigeria Constituent Assembly between 1988 to 1989. This is the body that was responsible for drafting the 1989 constitution of Nigeria. However, this constitution was only used partially in the third republic era in Nigerian history between 1993 and 1999.

In the now-defunct Gongola state, Mustapha was the state chairman of the Peoples Solidarity Party (PSP) there in 1989. However, the party was among the several political parties that were disbanded by Babangida as a result of their failed government’s “litmus test.”

Between 1990 and 1991 during Ibrahim Babangida’s regime, Mustapha served as Adamawa state’s chairman of one of the two state-created political parties, “The Social Democratic Party.” He subsequently ran and failed to secure the position of Adamawa state governor under this party in 1991. He lost to his political rival Abubakar Saleh Michika of National Republican Convention.

In 2000, the Obasanjo administration appointed him a member of Interim Management Committee (IMC) of the defunct Petroleum (Special) Trust Fund (PTF). He served till 2007.

In 2007, he functioned as the Deputy Director General of the party’s Presidential campaign Organization, where he played a prominent role. After the fusion of CAN with other parties which led to the formation of the All Progressive Congress (APC), his services became in high demand majorly in a bid to stabilize its affairs.

Outside Politics

Apart from the NBA Mustapha has, he is a registered member of various professional bodies. Some of these bodies include; African Bar Association (ABA), Commonwealth Lawyers Association, International Bar Association (IBA) and Human Rights Institute (HRI). His resume and accomplishments extend far and wide as he is a highly respected guru in the boardroom. This ingenuity made him be appointed as a member of the board of several companies in the oil and gas sectors as well as in the manufacturing financial services. He also happens to be the National Vice President of the “Full Gospel Business Men’s Fellowship International,” Nigeria.

As a man of his calibre, his wealth of knowledge is further solidified through his extensive travels to different parts of the world. Mustapha has thus visited no less than 30 countries and counting in his lifetime. On his visits, he takes a keen interest in how waterways assets are managed in those countries in order to gain insight into how things could be done better in his home country.

On the assumption of office, he did well to set the tone style and direction of his administration. He also stressed the importance of teamwork and the utmost need for focus on the goals that have been set for the coming years. In his address, he also said, “Just call me Boss, there is no need calling me Manager; I don’t have nicknames.”